The tradition of including baseball cards in chewing gum packs began in the late 1880s. Chewing gum was growing in popularity in the United States during this time period. Several chewing gum manufacturers started including small premiums or prizes in their gum packs as a marketing tactic to attract new customers.

In 1888, the American Tobacco Company began including photographs of famous baseball players in their gum packs as a type of collectible premium. This was one of the earliest instances of sports trading cards being included in consumer product packaging as a promotional item and marketing tool. The photographs measured around 2 inches by 3 inches and featured current stars from the National League and American Association.

Initially, these early baseball cards in gum were received with little fanfare. Around 1890 the concept started gaining popularity among baseball fans, especially youngsters. Seeing the potential, other chewing gum manufacturers like Fleer and Topps also began using baseball players as trading cards included with gum. This helped boost sales of their gum significantly.

In 1911, the American Caramel Company was one of the first to use true card stock paper for their baseball cards rather than photographs. This allowed for statistics, biographies and even cartoons to be printed on the cards along with images of the players. This set the template for the modern baseball card that contained stats, facts and images on a sturdy paper substrate.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the concept of baseball cards packed with gum really took off. Companies like Goudey Gum, National Chicle, Goodwin & Company and dozens of others included baseball cards as prizes alongside their chewing gum. This cemented the tradition of baseball fans purchasing packs of gum primarily in pursuit of collecting the enclosed baseball cards of their favorite players and teams.

The 1930s was considered the golden age of early baseball cards found in gum and candy packs. Two of the most storied producers emerged – Goudey Gum and Play Ball candy. Goudey issued highly collectible sets in 1933, 1934 and another famous release in 1952. Meanwhile, Play Ball’s 1936 and 1937 issues were coveted by collectors and featured card designs and early rookie cards that are still chased after today.

After World War 2, the two dominant chewing gum companies to produce baseball cards were Bowman and Topps. In 1948, the Bowman Gum Company issued the first modern design template that is still used today – colorful cardboard stock cards with bubbles of stats and highlights flanking the centered image. This set the standard that Topps and other brands adopted.

In 1951, the Topps Company took over production of baseball cards. They would become the longest running and most iconic producer of the hobby for decades. Topps issued innovative sets year after year, pioneering multi-player subsets and even experimenting with oddball genres like cartoons and action photos in the late 50s/early 60s. Their designs and aggressive marketing helped turn baseball cards into a mainstream pop culture phenomenon.

In the postwar 1950s-60s era, collecting and swapping baseball cards included in sticks of gum truly exploded in popularity among America’s youth. It wasn’t uncommon for kids to purchase half a dozen or more packs at a time at candy stores, supermarkets, drug stores and more in hopes of completing their favorite team’s roster or obtaining rare rookie cards.

While multiple companies dabbled in baseball cards over the years, Topps maintained their stronghold on the market for decades. They produced annual sets from 1952 to 1980 without meaningful competition. In the late 1960s, Topps even engaged in anti-trust lawsuits to keep competing brands like Fleer from issuing baseball cards in gum packs. This allowed Topps to capture virtually the entire lucrative baseball card marketplace.

In 1981, Topps finally faced competition when Fleer re-entered the baseball card category after a 17 year hiatus. They were followed by Donruss the next year, breaking Topps’ long monopoly. This reinvigorated the baseball card collecting hobby and kicked off what is considered the modern era. Manufacturers now battled each year for coveted licensing deals with MLB and individual teams/players.

In the late 1980s, the popularity of baseball cards skyrocketed amid a nationwide speculation frenzy. Individual cards, especially popular rookie cards, soared rapidly in monetary value. Although the price boom was short-lived, trading cards found a permanent home in the mainstream American childhood rites of passage. For generations of fans, ripping open a pack of gum to reveal baseball’s future stars inside was a thrill.

With the evolution of insert cards, parallels, autographs and memorabilia relics in the 1990s, collecting achieved new heights. The business models of Topps and other manufacturers faced challenges as the baseball card-gum connection faded. While some packs briefly included other snacks like cracker jacks or cookies, the tradition of finding cards in stick of gum had run its course.

Now in the 2020s modern era, while baseball cards have branched out across diverse product lines, collector tins and boxes have replaced the nostalgic magic of randomly encountering a coveted rookie inside a chewing gum wrapper. Nevertheless, for over a century now, the simple concept of enclosing a baseball collectible inside a consumer good helped drive one of America’s most beloved hobbies and awakened passion for the game in generation after generation of ballplayers and fans alike.

The tradition of including baseball trading cards as premiums and prizes inside chewing gum packs represented a historical meeting of two quintessential American pastimes – baseball and collecting. It was a marketing tactic that sparked a phenomenon, introduced America’s national pastime to millions of new young fans, and established a cherished rite of passage. Even after over a century, the legacy of randomly pulling coveted players from within a stick of gum still ignites excitement and nostalgia among baseball card collectors today. It stands as one of the earliest and most effective sports marketing gimmicks of all time.